Over the last two years at Askgreg, we have watched travel eSIM move from a “clever solution for frequent travellers” to a mainstream purchase behaviour. The mechanics are no longer the hard part: provisioning is fast, onboarding is improving, and consumers are increasingly eSIM-ready. The strategic question has shifted.

In our view, the travel eSIM market is not primarily facing a demand problem. It is facing a repeat usage problem.

The category was built around a simple promise: “instant connectivity for one trip.” That naturally creates transactional behaviour. People buy once, solve the immediate pain (connectivity on arrival), and then move on with their lives. Many will only travel again months later and at that point, they restart the shopping process. Price comparison is easy, switching costs are low, and the market is crowded with offers that look similar on the surface.

What is changing in travel eSIM ?

Three evolutions matter from a business perspective.

First, the addressable base is expanding. As eSIM-compatible devices become the norm, the friction of adoption continues to drop. That makes travel eSIM less of a niche product and more of a default option for a growing portion of travellers.

Second, competition is shifting toward retention. If everyone can sell a bundle for “Country X / 10GB / 30 days,” then differentiation moves away from the initial purchase and toward what happens after. Repeat usage becomes the engine that stabilises unit economics.

Third, distribution is becoming more strategic than performance marketing. As the advertising market gets more expensive and more saturated, the best acquisition is increasingly the one anchored in trust: travel agents, travel designers, tour operators, corporate travel channels, airports, and travel retail ecosystems.

Why travel eSIM churn is structurally high?

A one-trip product will always churn. That is not a failure unless your operating model depends on turning every customer into a new paid acquisition cycle.

If you rely mainly on paid marketing, your margins will compress over time: you are effectively paying a “tax” each time the customer travels. The executive implication is clear: the businesses that last will be those that turn travel eSIM into a relationship, not a one-off transaction.

The repeat-usage playbook

From an AskGreg viewpoint, five levers consistently outperform “more offers” or “more ads”:

1) Build a travel wallet, not a catalogue.

Make reuse the default: saved devices, stored packs, one-click activation for the next trip. This is less about features than about behaviour design. You want the customer’s account to become the place where travel connectivity “lives.”

2) Segment by travel frequency—and price accordingly.

Occasional travellers want confidence and simplicity. Frequent travellers want predictability and speed. Business travellers want invoices, expense-friendly workflows, and sometimes team management. One pricing strategy cannot optimise all three.

3) Design around travel patterns, not just countries.

High-value travellers often move across multiple countries (road trips, multi-city routes, island hopping). Bundles that match patterns create relevance and reduce re-shopping.

4) Put distribution partnerships at the centre.

If a traveller buys eSIM when the trip is booked, you have a natural “repeat moment” on the next booking. That is how you reduce CAC and increase recurrence without forcing loyalty.

5) Treat support and transparency as product features.

Compatibility guidance, clean installation steps, and fast support are not cost centres. In travel, one poor “arrival moment” can destroy trust permanently.

Executive takeaway

Travel eSIM is evolving from a transaction market to a retention market. The winners will not be those with the largest list of destinations. They will be those who build repeat usage through account continuity, frequency segmentation, distribution-led growth, and operator-grade customer experience.

If you’d like to exchange views on these trends and what they could mean for your business, feel free to contact Askgreg

Sources & reference points (selected) GSMA Intelligence on travel eSIM and consumer eSIM adoption Counterpoint Research on travel eSIM growth and repeat usage dynamics